Why choose a 7 type car?
The Lotus 7 was an
inspired design because it combined some of the crucial design elements of a
single seater racing car with at least a modicum of road useability and
factored in mechanical simplicity.
Today, in Caterham 7
format, this philosophy is taken to outer limits, because whilst a modern 7 is
inherently “simple”, it uses some of the very latest technology and techniques
to create a truly unique car, whose ability to provide shattering performance
and total controllability is unmatched almost regardless of price.
What alternatives are there?
There are many types of
“7” lookalike. There is only 1 Caterham 7, because they purchased the rights to
the Lotus design when Colin Chapman moved on to other things. Essentially, this
site will only really cover the Caterham 7, because it is my particular area of
interest, but suffice to say that I have owned a Westfield too, which is
essentially a copy of the 7.
The Westfield range has,
in fairness, of late, become oriented more down the route of motorcycle powered
cars, and having driven a “MegaBusa” (Suzuki Hayabusa power) with its
sequential gearbox, I can report that the car is excellent. As a criticism, I
found the ‘Busa tough to control at the limit, and certainly nothing like as
“friendly” as a Caterham Superlight.
There are many more, very
popular 7 type cars; many are very low budget build cars like the Locust 7.
Some have a big following like the “Robin Hood” 7. Basically, though, and this
remains a fact, stop a man in the street and show him a picture of a 7
derivative and he’ll answer either “Lotus 7” or “Caterham”. I have to admit
that I have seen most of the 7 copies and my opinion of them is very low.
Please make up your own mind; don’t take my opinion for granted because a very
many people are happy with them all but I think they are, without exception,
massively outclassed.
How much does it cost?
A new Caterham isn’t cheap. The 1.6 Classic starts at about 11 grand as a component car (where you bolt the major bits together, a bit like meccano for adults(!). If you are after serious performance (and most people are!) then bank on spending 20 grand as a minimum for a new 1.6 Superlight. This rises to a realistic 26 grand for a 190bhp VHPD superlight “R” (an evil machine with the Lotus Exige engine bolted into it….) and about 34 grand for the ridiculous R500 model with 230bhp and a power to weight ratio that many single seat racing cars would kill for!
You must be mad?
Maybe. Now
take a look at www.caterham.co.uk and
click on the used car section. These cars sell. They are very expensive. The
fact is that owners cherish their 7’s and they do low mileages every year. There
is a very select bunch of customers and enthusiasts who aspire to own a highly
specced 7 but once you’ve tapped into that market you have a car which is
remarkably resilient to depreciation. Typically, a new 7 will lose around 30%
of its value in the first 3 years and this is amazing compared to every other
type of new car. Very old examples still fetch in excess of 10 grand and there
is nothing to stop an owner keeping his or her new 7 indefinately, simply
upgrading parts as needed over the years.